Eliza looked back at the Enterprise with no regrets. Well, maybe she should have left a message for Jim, just in case. She knew they wouldn't kill her on purpose, but if she came in there guns blazing who knows what might happen by accident.
Either way, everything would be fine. Jim and Bones seemed to be friends, and Spock... well he had Uhura. Eliza would be more than happy to do this for them.
As she was getting close, going as fast as her small ship could, she attempted to hail Nero's ship. The first time... nothing. But the second time, he answered.
"Why, hello Commander Kirk," Nero said with a stupid grin. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I want a trade, let Captain Pike go, and I'll board your ship peacefully. And you can get whatever you wanted from me," Eliza said.
Nero smiled, "You think you can stall me? I'll let you try."
Suddenly, she saw her body being surrounded by the tell-tale particles of a transport beam. She barely had time to grab her phaser before she opened her eyes onboard Nero's ship.
She shot the first two figures she saw right away, then rolled off the platform. Unfortunately, she was still a little disoriented, and she rolled off a bit of a pedestal, hurting her shoulder in the process. She gasped in pain, but she kept moving, and, more importantly, she kept shooting. She eventually seemed to make it to some kind of control area. At this point, she wished she had relied a little less on Spock in xenolinguistics because she didn'dt understand any of the controls. However, she wasn't here to steer them away from Earth, she was just here to throw them off and slow them down.
She started pulling random levers and pushing random buttons, at first she wasn't sure it was doing anything, but then she knew it was because five heavily armed men came bursting into the room and opened fire. She barely had time to leap to cover, and even then, she was knicked by a shot just under her hip.
Eliza was breathing heavily as they stopped shooting. She heard their footsteps approaching where she was. If she was being honest, she had not been expecting them to fire lethal weapons at her. But just as that thought passed through her head, she heard shouting.
"What are you doing?!" Someone yelled, "Nero wants her ALIVE!"
Eliza took a deep breath and gripped her phaser even tighter. The moment one of them turned the corner she shot at them, managing to get hits on two of them. Unfortunately, a lucky shot from one of their phasers, now set to stun, shot the gun right out of her hand.
"Crap!" She said to herself as she rolled away from their fire. She struggled to get to her feet, she managed to grab the gun off one of the men she had previously downed and managed to deal with the remaining two. Then she faced the man who had come in after the five. She could tell that he was important, but he wasn't Nero.
She was pointing her gun at him, and he was doing the same. But he was giving away just how much he wanted to get her away from the control panels that she had previously messed with.
"You know, if you didn't want me to mess with your controls, you shouldn't have challenged me to," Eliza taunted.
The man scoffed, "You hardly did, nothing that someone who knows what they're doing can't undo."
Eliza smiled and knew what she had to do. She suddenly turned and shot the control panels as many times as she could before he managed to stun her.
When she opened her eyes again, Nero was there, and he didn't look too pleased.
...
When Spock returned to the bridge the first question was: "Where's Captain Kirk?"
"She's gone to buy time with Nero so we can make it to the Laurentian system and back in time," Spock explained.
Bones then marched up from where he had been standing off to the side. "Are you out of your Vulcan mind?!" He shouted. "They're going to kill her! How could you let her go?!"
"I did not let anyone go anywhere. She is- was the Captain, and it was her decision alone to make," Spock replied as calmly as he could. He looked around at the crew to see that they were all disheartened by the news that they had just lost another Captain to Nero. Sulu and Uhura were looking especially upset, which was no surprise. Eliza and Uhura were friends and Eliza had taught many of Sulu's classes in the academy, and since he was closer in age to her than the other classmates, they had a special friendship. "Do not be disheartened, we do have a way of seeing her wellbeing," Spock provided, looking down at the black band on his wrist. With a press of a button, they saw Eliza's vitals on the screen. Everything was normal, so the contented crew got back to work.
Unfortunately, it wasn't too long before Spock's attempt at comforting the crew went a little sideways. Her heart rate suddenly elevated and immediately the crew could see the notification that said she had a wound on her right shoulder. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at the screen as she accumulated more minor injuries. Then, she got shot.
Spock clenched the armrests on the chair as Bones made another comment. "They're using live rounds?! I thought they wanted her alive?"
"Well, she's probably putting up a hell of a fight then," Sulu added.
According to the device, she wasn't in any danger of bleeding out, and it was a fairly simple flesh wound. This partially put Spock's mind at ease, but then again, it would certainly impact the way she was able to fight.
Then, the screen was suspiciously inactive, for a few moments anyway. Then it was clear that she was up and fighting again because her heart rate skyrocketed. Then there was another moment of inactivity, but then she was suddenly unconscious.
"Sir! They dropped out of warp, close to Earth, but if whatever malfunction that caused them to stop keeps... malfunctioning, we have a shot of gathering the fleet before they get there," Sulu reported.
Spock nodded wearily, he was glad that her plan had worked, but what price was she now going to have to pay for it?
...
Meanwhile, on Delta Vega...
Jim was about to have his ass handed to him by some crazy ice-monster thing when suddenly he was saved by a mysterious man.
He pulled off his hood, and James saw a face he recognized... sort of.
"James T. Kirk," Spock Prime spoke.
"Excuse me?" Kirk asked, extremely confused.
"How did you find me?" Spock asked, ignoring Jim's confusion as he often had in their youth.
"How do you know my name?" Jim asked.
"I have been, and always shall be... your friend," Spock replied.
Jim just stared at him for a second, "What?"
"I... am Spock, one hundred and thirty years senior to the Vulcan you know," Spock prime said to Kirk.
Jim then fell into a prolonged lapse of silence, so Spock led him to where he had set up his camp.
They were sitting around the fire when Jim finally spoke again.
"Well, this is a hallucination. You can't be Spock because if you were you'd remember that you hate me and that you marooned me here for mutiny," Jim said.
Spock's face twisted with confusion, "Mutiny? You aren't the Captain?"
Jim scoffed, "Oh, I see what's happening here. So in your universe, I'm Captain?" He asked and Spock nodded. "And in your universe, you and I are best friends?" Spock nodded again. "Alright, yeah, so I'm afraid that me and my sister have been switched up a little. She's the Captain of the Enterprise, and she's your friend, not me. I'm sure in your universe you hate her, but..." James stopped when he saw the look on Spock's face.
"Eliza is still alive?" He asked, a faint glimmer of hope was present in his voice.
"Yeah..." Jim said with confusion. "Was she... not?"
Spock shook his head, "I... could not save her."
Jim wasn't really sure what to do with that. "I'm sorry." There was a moment before he spoke again. "How did she die?"
Spock suddenly looked much older than he had before, "She put her trust in the wrong person. As did I."
"So, I guess things aren't the opposite," Kirk commented, trying to bring up the mood a bit.
Spock snapped out of his reverie, "Allow me to show you... a glimpse from my past."
"Wha-" Kirk was cut off by Spock's fingers on his face, and then all of a sudden he was pulled into Spock's memories.
Spock led him through his mission to stop the supernova and showed him his encounter with Nero.
Jim watched, with the same emotions as Spock had, Vulcan collapse onto itself. He watched as Spock fell to his knees as his planet was destroyed. Then something strange happened. The memory kept switching back and forth from the destruction of Vulcan, and... something else. Spock was also hunched over on his knees, but he was holding something... someone, and he was sobbing. It was Eliza, she looked... it was horrific. Blood was falling from her eyes like tears, her lips were blue, her face was badly bruised.
"Please, Eliza, please." Jim could hear faintly chanted.
Then just as suddenly, the memories stopped and Jim staggered back.
"I'm sorry, I did not mean to show you that," Spock said with remorse.
Tears were streaming down Kirk's face as the emotions that Spock felt were starting to wear off.
"Forgive me, emotional transference is a side-effect of the mind-meld," Spock added after seeing Kirk's face.
"So you do feel," Jim asked/commented.
"Yes," Spock answered simply.
Still gathering himself, Jim asked: "You loved her?"
There was a pause, "I did."
More together now, Jim turned to face Spock, "Going back in time, it changed all of our lives."
"It was not intended, but yes," Spock replied. "Now, come. There is a Starfleet outpost not too far from here."
"Wait," Kirk said, "Where you came from, did I know my father?"
Spock smiled slightly, "Yes, you often spoke of him as your inspiration from joining Starfleet. He proudly lived to see you become Captain of the Enterprise. A destiny, I feel, we must return you to."
...
Back onboard the Enterprise, things were going relatively smoothly. Or at least, that's how Spock's facial expressions made it seem. He had taken down the link to Eliza's vitals from the main screen in the ship. Deciding that, whenever she woke up... the crew would not do well to seeing the effects of torture on the human body.
He had just finished speaking to Doctor McCoy about the banishing of James Kirk from the vessel when his father came aboard the bridge.
"Spock," Sarek spoke, "If you have a moment, I'd like to speak with you privately."
"I do," Spock replied. He then turned to Sulu, "You have the con."
Spock followed his father to a small room near the medical bay where his mother was also waiting.
"What is this about?" Spock asked. "Are you alright mother?"
Amanda smiled, "Yes Spock, I am fine. But I simply wanted to inquire about your friend, the one who jumped after me. She seemed to be wounded."
Spock stared at her for a moment, his flat face faltered.
"Spock?" His father asked.
"Eliza boarded Nero's ship to buy us more time," He said as neutrally as possible.
Amanda and Sarek shared a look. She stood from her seat and placed her hand on Spock's cheek. "I'm sorry Spock."
Spock was unsure what to say. "Thank you," He eventually settled on. "I must return to the bridge."
"If you would allow it, I would like to accompany you and observe," Sarek asked.
"Of course father," Spock said.
The two of them returned to the bridge just as Chekov spoke. "Keptin! We are detecting unauthorized access to the water turbine controls system!"
"Bring up security video," Spock said as he sat in the captain's chair. The entire bridge crew watched as Jim and another unknown man caught their breath under the turbine. "Get security down there and bring them to the bridge. Set phasers to stun."
It wasn't long after Spock's message to security that Jim and Scotty were both brought onto the bridge.
"Who are you?" Spock asked Scotty.
"He's with me," Kirk said at the same time Scotty said, "I'm with him."
"We're travelling at warp speed, how did you manage to beam aboard this vessel?" Spock questioned.
"You're the genius, you figure it out," Kirk said to the annoyance of Spock.
"As acting Captain of this vessel, I order you to answer my question."
"Whatever acting Captain. Where's my sister?" Kirk asked.
The entirety of the bridge shared the same look, oh shit.
"Commander Kirk made the decision to board Nero's ship in order to buy us more time to gather the rest of Starfleet," Spock said.
Jim's eyebrow twitched, "So you're the Captain now?"
"That is correct." Spock turned to Scotty, "Are you a member of Starfleet?"
"Uh, yes. Can get a towel please?"
"Under penalty of court marshal, I order you to explain to me how you beamed aboard this-"
"Don't answer him," Jim interrupted. "And I'm sorry can we get back to the fact that you shipped my sister off to Nero?" He demanded.
"As I said, it was her decision and-"
"It doesn't even upset you a little does it? You really are heartless. She's your best friend and you let her go to her death on Nero's ship?! And then, of course, there's your planet collapsing, which didn't seem to phase you one bit did it?" Kirk questioned relentlessly.
"Eliza Kirk is very much alive, and your assumption that any of these events hampers my ability to command this ship is inaccurate."
"And yet, you were the one that said that fear is necessary for command. I mean, did you see his ship, did you see what he did?"
"Of course I did."
"Then are you afraid or not?!" Kirk yelled.
"I will not allow you to lecture me on the merits of emotion," Spock spoke tensely.
Kirk stepped closer to him, getting right in Spock's face. "Then why don't you stop me?"
"Step away from me Mr. Kirk."
"What's it like? Not to feel anything? Not anger or heartbreak? Or the need to stop at nothing to avenge your entire planet? Or the man that's going to torture and kill your only friend?!" Kirk cried.
"Step. Away." Spock said warningly.
"You must just not feel anything! It must not even compute for you! I mean, you know he's going to kill her! You knew that she was dead the moment she left this ship! You must have never loved her at all!" Jim yelled at Spock.
There was exactly one second of silence, but lots happened during it. For one, Uhura's heart broke. So did Jim's nose.
Spock attacked him with a rage and fury that no one had been expecting. It was fairly similar in length to the beatdown James had gotten from Eliza not too long before, but it was so much rawer. In a matter of moments, Spock was choking Jim against one of the control panels that Chekov had wisely moved away from. Everyone was looking between themselves, each hoping the other would intervene before Spock killed Kirk.
Then, from the back of the bridge, Sarek spoke, "Spock, enough."
Spock still kept his hand around Jim's throat for a moment, but then finally released him into a sputtering mess.
Spock stepped back and turned to look at his father, whose face was unreadable. Spock was ashamed of his outburst and embarrassed that he assaulted a fellow Starfleet member in front of the entire bridge.
"Doctor McCoy, I am no longer fit for duty. I relinquish my command on the grounds of me being... emotionally compromised. Please note the time and date in the ship's log."
Spock then left the bridge and eyes turned to Sarek, who then followed him. Spock arrived at the empty transport room, and Sarek soon followed.
"Speak your mind Spock," Sarek said.
Spock shut his eyes and slightly shook his head, "That would be unwise," He whispered.
"What is necessary is never unwise," Sarek spoke wisely.
"This is not something you can understand," Spock said to his father and turned to face him.
"You love that girl," Sarek started and Spock's eyes widened, "You love her and you watched her leap off of a cliff to save your mother. You love her and you had to watch her leave to an uncertain fate." Spock was about to ask him how he knew, but Sarek spoke first. "I know, I know that fear because it is the same fear that grasps my heart every time your mother isn't by my side."
"But when I was young you told me-"
"I lied. I didn't marry your mother because it was my duty, I married her because I loved her," Sarek said. "And I love you, my son."
A single tear fell from Spock's face, "Nero will kill her, and there is nothing I can do about it."
Sarek smiled smally and placed a hand on his son's shoulder, "You can save her."
...
Jim, Bones, Sulu, Chekov, Uhura and Scotty were all arguing on the bridge about how they were going to overtake Nero's ship when Spock entered the bridge. Uhura quickly looked away from him.
"Mr. Chekov is correct. I was doing calculations on my way here, and I can confirm that if Mr. Sulu can manoeuvre us into position, I can beam aboard the ship," Spock spoke purposefully.
Kirk furrowed his eyebrows, "I'm not going to order you to do that Spock, you could get killed."
"Vulcans and Romulans share a common ancestry. Our cultural similarities offer me unique insight into the layout and design of their ship which would be quite advantageous," Spock presented. "Also, my mother is from Earth, and that makes it the only home I have left."
Kirk's blank face went to a grin, "Well then I'm coming with you."